Something you don't know
by roronoapedro
Summary: "We married so fast, Chrom. I hardly even know you."


"Tell me something I don't know about you."

Chrom took his gaze off the army reports and blinked at his wife. Sumia was lying down on hi-_their_ bed, he really had to get used to that idea, looking at him intensively. Last time her eyes stared at him like that, they were getting married.

"I'm afraid you know everything there is to know, my love." He was also trying really hard to sound more romantic and not as much… how had Robin described it? A honorable battle-born animal? Something like that. It made sense when she said it.

"I disagree." The brunette rolled and laid on her belly, her sleeping robes showing off more skin than her normal armor would ever reveal. Chrom took pleasure in being the only man who could see her like that – no insecurity, no metal, just the woman he loved. "I think there's plenty I don't know about you."

"Really." He finally decided to focus on his wife, closing the reports while promising to himself that he would at least skim it later. "All right, I'll bite. What would you like to know?"

"Hm… how was your childhood like?" Her eyes were innocent, so at least he knew she wasn't trying to lure him into a trap. "What were the secret hideouts you had as a child? Who were your friends?"

"But you know that." He replied, not sure where this was going. "You know I used to play around the hole on our castle's wall, the same one Lucina used to sneak in. And you…"

"Oh, I don't mean that, Chrom!" She puffed her cheeks adorably, clutching her chest tightly like a child. The warrior stood up and approached the love of his life genuinely confused.

"Sumia? What's wrong?"

She avoided his gaze, looking at the ceiling. She wore that frown like a crown.

"Don't you think this was a little… too fast?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean our marriage."

He was taken aback by that. What was she talking about? "Did I do something to bother you?"

"No, no, you would never! I… I love being here, I love every second of it, but-" Her throat closed, almost if she was coughing. After a second to regain her composure, she continued. "I mean… do you remember when we got married?"

"Of course." The memories brought a smile to his face. He could still remember Frederick giving him the royal rings, Robin's speech, Sully's drunken frenzy and declaration of love to the also rather drunk Frederick, Tharja's attempted poisoning of Robin's drink to apparently make her fall in love with… "It was the happiest day of my life. Lucina's birth being a close contestant, of course. I remember you baked us your amazing pie and-"

"That, right there." Sumia pushed herself up, sitting and crossing her legs. "Do you remember _how_ we proposed to each other?"

"Uh–"

"I baked you pies."

"Oh yes!" He hadn't really forgotten, of course, but there was still no evidence about what exactly his wife wanted.

"And… do you remember what else?"

"Well, for one, I really liked those pies."

"And?"

"And then you baked me more pies, and I got happier."

"Yes…?"

"And… then we got married."

"So, do you think there's anything wrong there?"

"Well, I haven't eaten your pies in a very long ti—ow!" Sumia's slaps were her deadliest weapon, no matter where they hit. Ricken had asked him why didn't Sumia just slap her enemies to death, and Chrom had had no good answer at the time. "What was that for? It's true!"

"Chrom, sweetie, I love you, but we got married because you liked my cooking. That's simply not enough."

"Then why did you go through with it?" Her expression changed from inquisitive to clearly offended extremely fast, and he got another slap on his arm because of it. "OW!"

"Silly! How dare you say that!"

"You're the one who brought it up!"

"I… well, you didn't have to put it like that!" Again with the puffing. He knew that if she was standing up, she would probably have tripped. "I just… we were running around the world and never really got a chance to share anything. Our experiences, our memories, our… well, our dreams… I didn't even know you wanted a daughter until I was already pregnant."

"You never asked." She was about to slap him again, but he raised his hands in an _I give up!_ sign. "Sweetie, don't be like that! I get what you mean! I just don't think it matters that much!" She didn't reply to that immediately, which made him go on. "I mean, I love you for what you are, not for what you did before. Knowing about your life wouldn't change my feelings."

"Still, wouldn't you want to know if… I did something bad? Wouldn't you want to know what I thought my life was going to be like when I was a child?"

He wasn't sure that his answer was a resounding yes, but he understood her point. "All right, my beloved. You start, then."

"What?"

"How did you want your adult life to be like when you were a child?"

"W-well." Sumia started playing with her hair, looking at the sheets like they were maps that would lead her out of the spotlight. "I…" And she stayed there for five seconds.

"… yes?"

"T-this is difficult, okay!" She took a deep breath and then started to speak more clearly. "I wanted to be a princess."

"Congratulations."

"Not… exactly like that. I wanted to be… I don't know how to explain it. It's silly."

"Nothing from you is silly to me, you know that."

"I… wanted to be rescued."

"From what?"

"The other boys."

Chrom's eyebrow went up, and Sumia's face reddened when she picked on the implications of her sentence.

"N-not that I was in danger! I was fine! No one hurt me!" Chrom was apparently getting confused. "I just… I could never make friends with the boys. They all…"

"Go on, sweetie."

"They thought I was ugly."

Chrom couldn't help but laugh. "What? Surely you jest."

"Don't… say it like that."

"Please, Sumia. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"I had blemishes."

Chrom stopped, and, once again, his eyebrow went up.

"Blemi… you mean acne?"

"Y-yes. It was quite bad."

"Oh."

There were approximately three seconds of silence.

"B-but you don't have anything anymore." He knew. He had checked one way or the other. "Your skin is smooth and spotless."

"I went to a medic, he prescribed creams and…" Sumia really wanted to shove her face in her hands and disappear into her own world, where her ideas didn't turn conversations into humiliation conga lines. "Nobody liked me."

"Surely that's… an exaggeration." Her gaze was uncharacteristically cold. "I apologize for my words, I don't mean to undermine your feelings."

"So I wanted a prince. I thought that if a prince kissed me, I could become a pretty princess… and everyone would like me. But I never met that prince when I was a child, and it wasn't…"

"Sumia, I wish I had been there."

"N-no!" Third time's a charm, said his eyebrow. "I… I wouldn't like you to see me like that. I was terrible…"

"Sumia… come on." Chrom sat by her wife's side, hugging her close, despite her initial resistance. "You know you're being extremely silly. Do you really think I wouldn't love you even if I was blind? Even if I never touched you once?"

"Chrom…"

"Those boys were idiots. I would give anything to have been your friend when you were a child."

"… thanks."

They were silent for a while, enjoying each other's warmth. It had been a while since Chrom didn't feel this sense of _preciousness_ coming from his wife. He was really lucky.

"I like romances."

Sumia took her head off his chest and looked at her husband puzzled.

"I mean, I like… romance books. And plays."

"… you do?"

"Yeah, I… ever since I was a kid, I liked them. They always… struck a chord in me."

She blinked twice, and then smiled.

"Really." This time, Sumia hugged him. "And what's your favorite romance?"

"It's… you probably don't know it…" She didn't have to look in his face to know he was looking at anywhere else but her. She could feel his cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

"Try me."

"Have you ever heard of… _The Serenade of the Winter Bride_?" He was biting his lip. His heart was beating. It was _maddening_ how nervous he was just by talking to his wife.

"Hm… no, I'm sorry." His heart sank a little, but it was to be expected. It wasn't particularly famous. "Can you tell me about it, though? I would love to hear the story."

"It's complicated, I wouldn't do it justice."

"Oh, Chrom, I know you can be a marvelous storyteller. I've seen you reading to Lucina."

"It's about… this woman, she's called Elizabeth, and she's the princess of a kingdom that is forever in winter. And the only way to make the winter go away is to make the monarch experience true love. Her sister Alice was supposed to be the next to the throne, but just before the ceremony, someone got her murdered."

"That's so sad!"

"But so now Liza has to take the throne, but she has never even had a boyfriend. She doesn't know what love is at all. And she has to face all of this pressure to melt the ice in her kingdom, and deal with her sister's death, and everyone starts giving up on her saying she'll be just like her parents who never loved each other…" He stopped, and Sumia heard his throat clutching.

"Chrom, are you… crying?"

"It's a very good book!" He protested, clearly trying to hide his feelings. Sumia just hugged him tighter. It looked like he needed it.

"Does it… end well?"

"Oh, I…"

"What?"

"… I don't want to ruin the ending, it's…"

"Oh, I see. Then I'll have to rent the book from your collection, my lord."

Again, she didn't have to look him in his face to see that her husband was smiling.

"You don't have to, it's more of a… guilty pleasure."

"Well, I think it suits you. If you love it, then I want to at least see what it is about."

She felt his arms holding her tighter. It was still dark outside; only the candlelight illuminated the room. It wasn't the first time they held each other close like this, but she had never quite felt her husband so close to her before.

"Thank you, Chrom."

"For what, my love?"

"For telling me something about you that I didn't know."

"Ah. Well, thank you, too. That mustn't have been easy."

"It's okay, I know children can be cruel.

"I hope our children turn out okay." Chrom stopped for a moment, and then laughed. "Hah, I _know_ they will."

"Yes." Sumia said, finally ready to go to sleep. She blew the candle as she spoke. "They will."

The room was dark and silent now. Even if Chrom wanted to go back to work, he really couldn't. His wife also seemed to be using his chest as a pillow.

_There's nowhere I'd rather be right now._

He just hoped Robin wouldn't mind a half-assed reply to the reports in the morning.


End file.
